The renaissance professional

Anendra Singh
Golf professional Mark Lavery's candid interview is full of 'p' words.
Privilege, passion, pleasure, practice and pillow are sprinkled like pepper added to a hearty soup to bring out some zest and flavour.
Visiting his Frimley-based parents, Dr Barry and Faye Lavery, the other day the 44-year-old golf director and coach at Rotorua Boys' High School reminisced about the good old days of growing up in the Bay before sharing the joys of coaching youngsters in the Bay of Plenty.
The former Frimley, Heretaunga Intermediate and Hastings Boys' High School student tells SportToday it's been an honour to have spent time with Stuart "The Emperor" Jones, who lives only a stone's throw away from his parents' home.
"I'm very privileged to have been able to play, practise and be guided by such a talented golfer," he says of the legendary Hastings Golf Club amateur who has won countless New Zealand Open titles and still plays at his club at the age of 82.
"He was very generous with his time and when I became a qualified pro he was a great mentor."
Under the tutelage of Brian Doyle, of Hastings, Laver considers himself equally blessed to have trained and acquired his apprenticeship under the New Zealand Titleist Elite Academy coach at the former Flaxmere Golf Club (now Hawke's Bay Golf Club at Bridge Pa).
"I was trained by one of the best in the country and I had utmost respect for Brian who is still a great mentor and brings the best out in you," he says of the Hastings PGA professional whose most valuable contribution in Laver's career was instilling a sense of self-belief.
"You can have all the skills but if you have no self-belief to impart those skills then it's no good to anyone," Lavery says.
Under Doyle's tutelage as his first apprentice from 1981, Lavery did his master proud when he in 1983 he graduated as top trainee professional in both theory and the practical components of the examination.
"Brain's next two apprentices, James Kupa and Robin Smalley were also the top two in their years," he explains, adding that the current Hawke's Bay senior men's coach was "fun" to learn from but also "fair".
On the other end of the spectrum, Lavery has carved out a niche in moulding some of the country's future champions, including one of the most talked about teenagers in the world - outgoing Rotorua Boys' High pupil Danny Lee.
Lee took the world by storm last month to become world No.1 amateur after winning the US Open Championship and, in the process, eclipsing Tiger Woods' record as the youngest player ever to etch his name on the silverware.
"It's not all about the ownership of one player but about support networks," emphasises Lavery, paying tribute to Lee's Springfield Golf Club and the school for providing the proper environment for youngsters to develop in.
Having enjoyed what the game offers, he yearns to give something back to the code by teaching youngsters.
"It's been a privilege and pleasure to play such an important role at Rotorua Boys' High School," he says, adding it's vital to be creative and always a step ahead to inspire children.
However, not long after acquiring his apprenticeship Lavery went on his big OE, playing throughout Australia, Europe and the Pacific Islands.
On his return home, Lavery set up shop at the Poverty Bay Golf Club as the resident golf professional for a decade before heading to Northern Ireland for two years.
The next time home he spent three years with Rotorua Golf Club as coach and then assumed his mantle as academy supremo at Rotorua Boys' High in 2004.
"In my time at Northern Ireland I caught up with a good Irish friend who is a good golfer and played some of the best link courses in the world," he says of the Royal County Down and Portrush Golf Courses where he would find out days later that world-class players such as Woods and Ernie Els had zoomed in on helicopters to play a round before major tournaments.
Highlights include scoring stints with the ABS Sports TV network during the British Open as part of the course crew who relayed back information to the commentators.
He emphasises his parents always supported his passion for golf "no matter what".
While his sister, Jan, went on to be a general practitioner in Wellington he was not under any pressure to emulate her or his father in the medical field.
In golf, he learned a lot from his father before the student metamorphosed to master.
"Dad is capable but, technically, he's not the flashiest and however mentally strong, he doesn't like learning," he says with a grin of Dr Lavery, who is a self-taught single-digit handicapper who still tames the fairways at the Hastings Golf Club.
"I gave up trying to teach him years ago and left him to the local pros here to do that," says Lavery who frequently visits his parents in Hastings and keeps in touch with friends.